Sanguine Symphonies
by Gothic Lust
Summary: Naruto knew ever since he was little that a hospital was the devils work, nothing good ever really came from it. Besides, it didn't have ramen. But he never really thought that the Hospital of Konoha could become a battle ground of the supernatural.
1. Chapter 1

**Sanguine Symphonies**

**By: Gothic Lust**

**Naruto Shippuuden (Alternate Universe-ish)**

**Naruto U. /Sakura H.**

**Horror/Drama**

**Rated M**

**Summary**: Commission. Naruto knew ever since he was little that a hospital was the devils work, nothing good ever really came from it. Besides, it didn't have ramen. But he never really thought that the Hospital of Konoha could become a battle ground of the supernatural. Warning, Vampires and other oddities afoot!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the Naruto characters and plotline. Also, this specific plotline was commissioned by a reader who wishes to remain anonymous.

**Author's Note**: I took a few liberties with the use and description of Chakra. I figure that since it is a mix of spiritual and physical energies, it can do a lot more than perform Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, so here's my interpretation of it. I think, mainly, that it can have other simple properties that are not normally used. Let me know if it's too odd, or not. Enjoy.

**Chapter One:**

**The Peaceful Village**

Naruto crouched low between two thick moss covered boughs high up in the canopy. The air was heavy against his skin, soaking deep into the rough cotton jacket so that it weighed down his arms and hair. Breathing shallow, he crawled on his belly scraping a wet green line across his orange pants and white shirt. Behind him, the soft puff of hot breath from Sakura cut against the wet cold air. He nodded to her briefly and matched her determined eyes and set stony face. They held their breath coming down from their perch, landing next to Sai where he kneeled half hidden by a bush.

Thin hands gracefully drew dark ink across wet paper, and with a small amount of chakra and a sudden gesture of those hands, black ink peeled and grew into shape, slithering along dewy grass to a cabin several meters ahead.

"Ready?" Naruto whispered.

The other two nodded looking to him for signal to move. Peeking between the two, Naruto caught sight of wispy silver hair nodding in his direction. "Go," said the raspy voice of Kakashi through their head-sets.

Black ink exploded on wood, chakra pulling apart boards and iron coils that held the door together clouding the morning air with splintered wood, dust and ink. Using the sudden noise and chaos to their advantage, Naruto and the other's slipped through the weakened defenses of the inhabitants, catching a guard by the door in the jaw as he passed splashing them lightly with warm blood and spittle.

"There!" Sakura shouted, darting low to the left where a broken table lay folded inward on itself. Between the v-shape of its bend lay Tenzou, bleeding and bound in thick weather-worn rope and white paper seals, chakra weaving lightly among the frayed edges, strengthening it.

Meeting her there, Kakashi squat next to his co-captain, cradling the man into his torso to shield him from stray wind blades that past from Naruto's jutsu with his back. Sakura leaned over the two briefly, enough to pass a green-glowing hand over a nasty gash on the captured man's forehead before departing, striking a man with her fist that tried to storm her.

"Get going Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled dodging between blasts of fire jutsu, grinning to himself at the weak heat, momentarily remembering the searing blaze that was Sasuke's kanton before ducking and weaving past Sai, nodding to his teammate and following his sensei out the splintered door.

Sai let off one last painted-creature, watching the ink devour Naruto's once opponent, suppressing the fire and chakra as it seeped into his clothing.

Once outside, they regrouped several miles away, Tenzou unbound and in the care of Sakura, green hands passing over his chest and head, searching for further injuries.

"Well, that was fun!" Naruto smiled at the group, arms cradling his head as he rocked back on his feet, opening the jacket enough to reveal more of his white shirt.

"Yes, next time we'll toss you to the enemy, Naruto." Sakura growled, finished with Tenzou and turned to scowl at her longtime friend. "Nice plan, jackass! He could have been hurt."

Unfolding his arms from behind his head, Naruto frowned at her. "I would have done it, but he's the only one that can use wood-style techniques."

"Yea, but that was all a waste, we didn't even get what we came here for." Sakura stood and huffed, stomping away from their small circle.

"Not necessarily." Tenzou spoke up, cutting the two from fighting. Nodding to Sai, he gave an odd smile.

Sai returned the gesture with a fake smile of his own, his pale cheeks twitching with the effort of expression. "We got it," he said and held up a scroll with the drawing of a wood fragment, large enough to engulf the page.

Tossing the scroll to Tenzou, the heavy paper puffed and expanded into white smoke, leaving behind the wood fragment in his grasp.

"Neat trick." Kakashi drawled from behind one of his perverted books he was using to wait out the storm of his students fighting.

They watched silently as the wood lightened and pulled back into Tenzou's hand, revealing the scroll that had been their original mission.

Their awe at such a crafty trick was cut as kunai rained from the canopy, scratching them as they dodged, Naruto releasing chakra enhanced wind to keep his teammates safe, spinning some of the projectiles off course.

Tossing off his customary jacket, now ripped and useless, Naruto flipped and let loose a giant shuriken spinning it into the canopy, lopping off thick branches that fell heavily enough to shake the ground.

Sakura ran towards the newly fallen boughs, and using her massive strength, cratered the area they rested in, sending up sharp splinters of wood, and rock that trapped several of the falling shinobi.

Naruto caught the edge of a kunai with his forearm, blocking his middle as he dodged left, avoiding a follow-up kick that would have split his cheek. The two fighters danced around one another, swapping blows and scratches before they broke apart to let through a stray jutsu, a column of water filling the space between.

When the torrent settled around his ankles, Naruto looked up to notice their opponents were gone, and so too was the scroll. Bleeding, Naruto clutched his wounded arm and proceeded to where Sakura kneeled panting against a tree, her arms shaking with the chakra lacing up her muscles, causing her to twitch in pain.

"Who got cut by the blades?" Kakashi called out, handing Sai a bottle of something. The young man tilted his head back, swallowing a mouthful of whatever was inside and handed it back to Kakashi, an arm wrapped around his middle, where Naruto could see red stain against pale skin.

"Yo." Naruto hollered, watching as Tenzou wrapped Sai's wounded belly in thick bandages.

Tossing him the bottle, Kakashi started over to Sakura, checking her arms. "Drink." He ordered to Naruto, pressing a hand to the inside of her elbow. Naruto watched her bite her lip to stifle a scream.

Not questioning Kakashi, Naruto tilted his head back after wiping the lip of the bottle, and took a mouthful. The sour taste of medicine nearly had him spit it out, but with a quick hand pressed over his lips, Naruto forced himself to swallow. The taste of foul bitter grass came back up with a gasp.

"We're heading back to Konoha." Kakashi said, Sakura standing completely now, though a bit shaky. "This mission is over."

"But we lost the scroll!" Naruto yelled. "We have to get it back."

"Not with half the team poisoned, and Sakura suffering from chakra exhaustion." Kakashi took back the bottle and quicker than they could blink, drank deeply from it.

"You just—I almost—your face!" Naruto's voice broke, pitching a bit higher than normal from blatant shock.

The mask pulled slightly around Kakashi's mouth as he smiled at Naruto. "You'll never see my face." He said with a laugh. "Now get ready, we're leaving for Konoha."

**XxxxxxX**

Dusk settled with a warm breeze on the winding down village of Konoha. The hot summer air stifled much activity, forcing many residents to retreat home early, and for the shinobi patrolling the perimeter walls to pull at their flak jackets, peeling layers of protective clothing and wrappings from sweaty skin. Chakra leaked in an effort to cool them, a thin skin forming over each shinobi, catching stray puffs of wind and converting hot air into a cool relief as they patrolled and scouted.

A group of ANBU settled near a northern wall, the stones reflecting the burnt orange glow of a setting sun and propped up a lone figure. The masks of the warriors trembled against the mist of chakra leaking in the air, their own chakra strings suffering under the strain to keep the porcelain masks on.

"Careful, we don't know if he was left there on purpose." A cat-masked man made his way forward, cautiously heeding the warning from the fox-masked captain.

"He's certainly dead, but what's with the halo of chakra?" He asked, pressing gingerly on the corpse's throat, checking for pulse and traps. So far there was no signal of thin trip wire or paper bombs.

"There's no mark on him, can you see what killed him?" A female, hawk-masked member asked, performing a few quick hand seals. "What nation is he from?"

"Unknown." The cat replied simply and turned the body when the female hawk nodded her approval.

"You're clear." She said and stepped back, avoiding collision with her fox-faced captain as he stepped forward and knelt by the body, peeling the lids of the eyes back revealing blood-shot whites and the iris bleached of color, enlarging the pupil so it engulfed most of the space, devoid of sight.

"He's not a doujutsu user." Their fox-captain let the lid slide down languidly; the skin was papery and dry, slow to return down an equally dry eye. "Inform Hokage-sama. This was not a natural death. Something's off, I can feel it."

The two subordinates stood sharp, their heels clicking briefly before a flare of chakra sent them over the wall and into the village proper in search of their Lady Hokage.

**XxxxxxX**

"Hold still you brat!" Tsunade growled, pulling cloth bandages tight around her patient's forearm as he squirmed away from her, screaming profanities and incoherent ramblings.

"Easy for you to say," He shouted back. "You weren't the one poisoned."

"It's just a scratch dobe!" Sakura sighed, from where she rested on a bed next to him, her arms equally bound by blue sleeves that glowed with running chakra that rippled and waved lazily.

"Tch," Naruto sniffed, flicking his tongue against the back of his front of his teeth sharply. Annoyed, he pulled his arm from Tsunade's grasp lightly, purposely being difficult. His eyes slit in fox-amusement, a flash of red briefly passing over blue before settling again and allowing the blond woman uninterrupted work-time.

"Finally," She sighed and rewrapped the arm, painting symbols along the white surface with a soft brush.

_Don't Touch!_ It read as Naruto was given back his arm, scratching at it immediately and being slapped for it.

"What did I say!" Tsunade growled, cracking her knuckles as she twitched her fingers. "Don't touch it, or I'll cut it off and we'll find out if Kyuubi can grow back lost limbs."

Paling, Naruto effectively stilled himself by sitting on his hands, wincing lightly as the bandage chafed against the raw skin Tsunade had to scrape off.

"Where's Sai and Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked just as the blond went to leave.

Sakura looked up from her own arms, curious. "Weren't they poisoned too?" She finished for him.

"Nope, Naruto was the only lucky idiot." Removing her used gloves, Tsunade trashed them beside the door. "They left for home. I'll see you tomorrow morning." With a final wave, she left, meeting the two ANBU that waited outside for her.

**XxxxxxX**

"Tsunade-sama, I heard there was a corpse found at the northern wall." Sakura entered the cold steel-boarded room of their in-hospital mortuary early the next morning. Tsunade was peeling back the tarp over a prone form. "Can I help in any way?"

Blonde hair flew about her neck as the woman turned and regarded her student. The girl's arms still wrapped in blue-chakra cuffs. With a soft sigh she shook her head, tired. "No, check on the brat, I need you to make sure that the poison doesn't weaken his control over—" She paused momentarily, fearing to give name to the creature within Naruto. "_It_." The word was spat out with a hiss.

Sakura nodded solemnly, glancing to Hiashi Hyuuga, bowed to him briefly and offered him a simple good morning before turning to leave.

"Oh, and Sakura," The girl turned back quickly, wide-green eyes locking on her favorite teacher, a smile spread across her face in hope. "Please take care of him, and don't fight. I could use the peace."

Her lips turned down in a frown, a thin finger twirling a lock of her short hair, curling it gently when she let it go. "I understand, don't stay up too late, you're really tired."

"Nothing a great big bottle of sake won't cure!" Laughter followed her out and back to the stairs. The cold corridor warming momentarily with her sensei's laughter as she ascended the stairs towards Naruto and the rest of the hospital staff, dreading another shift in the trauma ward, even if the experience was good for her.

Tsunade watched the doors close on her student her face stony once more, then turned to the man prone on her table. According to the report, he had been found yesterday at dusk near the northern wall, alone and with no visible injuries. In the corner, Hiashi Hyuuga leaned over a chart scribbling.

"Find anything interesting?" She peeled the sheet properly off the man, exposing sunken flesh, thin enough to show the ridges of his ribs and the abnormally thin form of his waist.

"Nothing normal." Hiashi looked up, annoyed, but didn't stop his writing. "He's dehydrated, and the chakra network is equally shriveled and drained."

_His chakra?_ Tsunade's eyebrows furrowed as she pushed against the weak skin at his pulse. Her finger sunk easily into the musculature of the corpses neck, the pad of her forefinger brushing against callused, scarred muscle beneath smooth skin.

"He has signs of injury, but no outward physical scaring." The rasping of Hiashi's pencil was her only answer for some time. She continued to prod and poke, checking for obvious signs of abnormalities or disease.

Looking at the corpse closely, Tsunade could only conclude the man to have been very fit, and unlikely to die from natural causes. His stature and musculature, if he had any fluids to be in proper human form, suggested he had once been a shin obi. Could this man have left behind someone? Perhaps a child, or sibling, or a lover.

"Could a medic have closed the flesh before healing the muscle?" The question broke her from pondering the man's life and treading into dangerous thoughts about her own deceased loved ones.

"No decent medic would ever do something so stupid." Tsunade hissed. "Closing the outer layers of flesh would cause sepsis, decaying the blood and injured tissue beneath."

"Could that be what killed him?" It was a stupid question, they both knew it. But even the stupid ones needed to have a documented answer.

"Then what explains his obvious dehydration?" Hiashi scribbled down a 'no' anyway and placed the pad he had been writing on onto the desk.

"And the narrowing of his chakra network." Hiashi added, standing from his seat. "I've left my finding on the desk. Do you need me to stay further."

"Indeed." Tsunade waved him off, then bit her thumb and leaned over the corpse. "What in the world happened to you?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The First to Turn**

Tsunade's breathing was irregular, wet sounding, and humming with a low, hollow drawl. She knew it wasn't good. The heavy feeling in her lungs, and the tight compression every time she took a shallow breath meant only one thing to her: a punctured lung.

But she had no time to worry about that now. In front of her, perched unrealistically atop the thin edge of the morgue door was a creature with red, glowing eyes.

The single florescent lamp of the autopsy table was swinging wildly, splashed in blood. The creature was unfazed by the throw of light, staring at Tsunade's wound; a neat series of four slashes across her chest beneath her bosom at the bottom of her rib cage.

Ignoring the wet gurgle of her breathing, Tsunade touched a bloodied fingertip to the diamond seal on her forehead, smearing the skin red. As she drew her finger across it, the seal unleashed, drawing a dark pattern across her forehead.

The wet rattle of her breathing stopped, she hacked and coughed, each heave pulling more blood from her lungs. Her side felt hot, almost itchy, as the skin closed around her wound.

The creature watched all this in fascination. His eyes reflecting the light as it swung by him.

The burn from her wound closing faded into a dull ache, her breathing now free and clear. With a strained voice, she spoke to the creature, "I don't know what the hell you are, but you're not leaving this hospital."

The creature chuckled, deep in the back of his throat. His shriveled lips raised over pointed teeth as he made a show of licking her blood off his claws. Each swipe of his rough tongue across the papery skin of his hand, Tsunade could see his color returning. His cells began to regenerate much like her own. Muscle was slowly growing, inflating beneath the hanging skin of his arms and legs.

It was horrifying to watch something with no pulse, no presence of life, regenerate into the shadowed resemblance of a man.

The creature leaped down, his landing smooth and without sound on the linoleum floor.

Unabashed by his nakedness, he stalked forward, smooth and lithe with the aid of regenerated muscle towards Tsunade. He stopped some feet away from her, directly beneath the swinging light as it cast dark, ominous shadows across the planes and ridges of his strengthened body.

The smirking lips now full and taught, continued to smile at her even as he spoke a few, simple words.

"What ever made you think I wanted to leave?"

Then the swinging light blew out, shattering glass shards across a monstrous, but somehow handsome face.

**XxxxxxX**

Sakura's hand was stuck, neatly placed between the gushing wound of a young chunin and the bone that broke through skin. She was screaming for help, her hand's glow pulsing with her fatigue, even as pain shot white-hot through to her elbow. The chakra brace's she'd been wearing previously were discarded somewhere down the hall where she'd tossed them to join the group of temps wheeling in the injured.

Another hand crossed her vision, white and smooth with delicately manicured nails. It's own green glow, strong and bright, overlapped hers, allowing Sakura to remove herself.

Ino's brows were knit tight in concentration, her eyes seemingly seeing past the skin and into the wound's source.

"Thanks Ino," Sakura sighed, collapsing back into her chair for a moment. Ino simply nodded, not really hearing her.

Taking the moment to rest, Sakura scanned the emergency ward. Ninja were scattered about, some injured, other's healing and assisting or writing on charts and explaining accidents. Sakura didn't care much for the paperwork aspect of her job, and much like her mentor, avoided it with a serious passion but much less alcohol.

She stood immediately when she noticed Shizune cutting her way through the chaos towards her, a stack of papers tucked haphazardly under her arms. With a quick "Cover me," to Ino who probably didn't hear her anyway, Sakura ducked beneath a rolling caddy and around several empty beds that lined the east wall.

She could see Shizune's head duck into Ino's sectioned off area as she ducked the last corner into the less crowded corridor.

Grinning madly and promising herself a swarm bottle of sake when she got off (only a small one), Sakura made her way up to the private rooms. She passed several long term patients and grievously injured service-personnel before rapping lightly on Naruto's door. She didn't wait for the polite request to come in, only allowed two seconds for the warning nock to stop Naruto from doing whatever foolishness he had invented to entertain himself before she entered. It was only the polite thing for him to do of course. She was taking the time to visit him after all.

"What the hell are you doing!?" She screeched. Naruto was half off his bed, pulling the bandages tightly on his forearm bracing the weight, staring at something on the floor.

Swiftly edging around the bed, Sakura found a squished orange toad beneath a heap of books and snacks. Sakura could only blink and let out a strained sigh.

"Oh, Sakura!" Naruto smiled widely at her, the act shortened the whisker marks on his face and pushed in a dimple on his right cheek. "What's up?"

Did he always have that there? Sakura questioned herself as she pushed him to sit straight when he didn't do so himself. "Nothing," she grumbled.

Naruto frowned but didn't comment. He allowed the flattened toad to toss a mountain of books onto his lap, most laden with chips and grease marks than actual wear and tear of reading. The toad saluted loudly with a "Later Naruto," and poofed from their realm. The thin fog dispersed quickly, but the lingering scent of bog water and seaweed was a bit nauseating. At least slugs didn't leave behind such an obnoxious smell, just freshly tilled earth that was easily swept away. The absent thought of what snakes left behind as they departed caught her off guard, but she shook her head quickly while Naruto was busy tumbing through a pamphlet. He tossed it aside. She wished she could do the same with her thoughts of Sasuke.

"What's this supposed to be?" She asked, raising and eyebrow at the lot.

"Training," Naruto's brilliant grin didn't disappear at the prospect of homework. That only meant one of two things. It was a really cool new jutsu, or it had something to do with Sasuke. Secretly she was hoping for the first.

She didn't really know when Sasuke had become less important to her, but the realization of her childhood crush ever coming back as the same person as he left was rather slim, and had her forgetting about him somewhere down the road. And being the realist that she was, Sakura didn't dwell on the lack of emotional response to that. Sure, she was nostalgic of their past and wanted to bring him back to Konoha, for good or bad (or ugly if she wanted to be completely truthful), her determination however didn't extend the way Naruto's did anymore. She couldn't fathom going to the ends of the world to retrieve him. To fight him tooth and nail to the bitter end. Sakura was beginning to realize, like many in her generation, that there was more to life than the mission and their past connections. There were future connections she wanted to create, hopefully ones that involved a family and little squirts to teach to bug Uncle Naruto. That is, if she still wanted him as Uncle and not something more.

She didn't want to dwell on this topic either, as her feelings for Naruto, much like the ones for Sasuke, had changed since they had first been paired together as Team Seven.

So, not wanting to be the one to deduce wrong, or bring up Sasuke, again, Sakura did what she did best with Naruto. Played dumb. "You're going to study for training! You, Naruto? Nothing's going to stick in that thick head of yours."

"Hey!" Naruto dodged the swat Sakura aimed for his head, and held up a thick tome in defense in case she tried again. "I can read."

"But can you understand what you read, moron." Sakura replaced her hands on her hips and smiled. It wasn't a sarcastic one, but a true smile that Naruto had been the only one to see in a long time.

Moments like this between them were nice. It made her wonder what it would have been like if she accepted him like Sasuke had done earlier in their training. What would he have been like if she didn't knock him over the head so often for such stupid little things?

He'd probably be the same moron, Sakura snorted as he continued to duck around the book's edges to catch sight of Sakura's fists incase they came flying at him, all with a stupid look; all arched brows and flared nostrils. Like that would scare her away anymore.

A minute passed before they gave up their silliness and Naruto put the book down on his lap once more, smoothing the front cover and dusting it of chip dust.

"I was actually hoping to find something about curse seals in here," His voice was low and soft. Almost too much for Sakura to hear, and she wondered if he wanted her to hear him at all.

She didn't respond, understanding his need to compose himself.

Naruto was obsessed with Sasuke. This was normal, and would remain normal if she had any say (just because he wouldn't be her Naruto without that drive he had for Sasuke). But truthfully, she hoped he would forget one day and live like he'd never met Sasuke. Like he'd never made such a deep bond with someone, only to have it torn away. Sometimes, she wished he could recreate it with her, but she knew it wasn't going to happen. A bond like that came from shared experiences and Sakura wasn't missing her parents or an unfulfilling childhood.

"I want to help him, Orochimaru isn't helping him."

"And you honestly think we could help him with that?" She rubbed her nose on her sleeve to prevent herself from crying. "We can't kill for him, Naruto. This is a path he has to wander on his own."

"I know. I just wish I could help."

"You can't carry it for him. No matter how much you want to, eventually, Sasuke will drown under that weight." She didn't meet his eyes, though she had a feeling he wasn't looking her way either.

"He shouldn't have to." Naruto was firm now. There were no whispers or soft words, so Sakura didn't argue further, she just said "I know," and let him flip the pages of books he didn't have the training to understand, but tried to work through anyway.

**XxxxxxX**

Pale hands, filled and strong, caressed down the equally pallid expanse of neck, smoothing away stained blond hair. A nail trailed into a deep fissure within the column of flesh, pulling it wider and wider still. Everything was dry now so the stretching didn't bring forth any blood, but that wasn't what he was searching for. Tugging a bit harsh and ripping a wider seam that crossed the front of the throat, the creature marveled at the quick response to heal, even if it was only to the original wound he'd inflicted.

The lights flickered but otherwise steady-set on the pendant hangings. Bringing his finger to his lips, the creature delicately cleaned long nails with a red-stained tongue, the woman at his feet groaned and turned onto her other side away from him.

"Child," His voice was rich and smooth, the dryness once there now gone, soothed by his latest meal. "Rest and recover, I will bring you food soon."

Tsunade groaned again and lay still, her breath frozen in her lungs.

The creature flicked the remaining blood off his hands and made his way to the door. His focus on the strong chakra currents he could feel about the small hospital.

For him, this place was a giant feeding ground. Easily attainable and perfect for his progeny to plague.

He and his would starve no longer. He had learned from his past mistakes. He could not bleed the entire population dry, and he could not turn whomever at will. He had to control himself, but that control was difficult to come by. It was dumb luck that freed him from his crazed hunger long enough to recognize the strength within the woman he supped from to turn her. With this woman, he would regain control and wrest his former glory from the shin obi that now ruled without fear.

He would give them something to fear, something to fight. Let them unite against him, and as they banded together for survival, so too will he hoard their dead to him and feast upon their weak and foolish.

Their reign will end, and his will begin again. And under that notion, he pulled open the mortuary door, bringing in fresh air from the corridor and with it the scent of blood. Lots and lots of blood.


End file.
